Aliens of the Human Kind
A man, marked with the scars of a long dangerous journey. Hot, bleak, and empty, the dry air and glaring lack of life created a tangible sense of doom. Risking it all for his family, leaving his country, crossing the border. This man has created a new life, he is now an alien in the land of freedom and prosperity. An illegal immigrant is defined as anyone who moves to a country with intent on living there, without any form of identification. Illegal immigration comes into play when people do not follow the guidelines during the immigration process. Today there are many issues that surround immigration: reformation of the system, amnesty, and the over effects. This raises the question, just how do undocumented immigrants affect the US, politically, socially, and economically?
Many immigrants are currently coming to the US illegally are from Latin America. Back in the late 1800’s we had a different type of immigration problems with the Chinese. On May 6, 1882 president Chester A. Arthur signed the Chinese exclusion act which prohibited all Chinese from entering the US (wikipedia). Back in those times there was less sensitivity towards racism. One thing that was similar between the two times were their motives for coming: money. Although 2016 is different than 1882, we can still look to the past to guide our future.
Immigrants, aliens, illegals, whatever nomenclature you want to use, are a double-edged sword. When people move into an area, legally or
There was not a lot of Chinese in the United States until around the California Gold rush in 1849, many entrepreneurs trying to make it rich. In the 1860s a pushback was sparked by political parties of labor groups like the Knights of Labor who wanted to protect American jobs because in their perspective, they couldn’t compete with the cheap labor source of immigrants. These political labor groups emphasized the feeling that the Chinese didn’t belong, shortly after massacres began to occur. California tried to band Chinese immigrants in 1858; however, that power was way above the states, thus resulting in failure. Again by 1878, there was enough people in congress to pass the Chinese exclusion Act; however, a man named Rutherford B Hayes had strong ties to the Republican party and other interests that he vetoes the bill, and once again the efforts to ban Chinese ends in failure.
The law suspended further immigration of Chinese peoples for 10 years, with exclusion of those residing in the United States in 1880. The laws paved the way for the discrimination against the Chinese up until 1904. However, history has began to repeat itself, as racial lines are being drawn against those of Hispanic backgrounds. Due to the high amount of drug trafficking and exploitation/crime being presented across the borders of the United States, many Mexican citizens are being denied the rights of becoming a citizen. After many years of conflict, there is yet to be harmony among the borders.
Undocumented immigrants are foreign nationals who entered the United States without authorization or entered legally but remained in the United States without authorization. However, undocumented youth and students usually have no role in the decision to come to this country. They are usually brought to this country by their parents or relatives, generally due to economic hardship and they have spent more years in the United States than in their country of birth. (Baum, Flores, 2011) Over the years, undocumented immigration has grown tremendously in the United States. “Among the nearly 12 million undocumented immigrants, a
One of the first significant pieces of federal legislation aimed at restricting immigration was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned Chinese laborers from coming to America. Californians had agitated for the new law, blaming the Chinese, who were willing to work for less, for a decline in wages.The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States. Those on the West Coast were especially prone to attribute declining wages and economic ills on the despised Chinese workers. Although the Chinese composed only .002 percent of the nation’s population, Congress passed the exclusion act to placate worker demands and assuage prevalent concerns about maintaining white “racial purity.”
Illegal immigration is the migration of people across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. Some countries have millions of illegal immigrants. Immigration, including illegal immigration, is overwhelmingly upward, from a poorer to a richer country. The easy definition of an undocumented immigrant is someone who was not born in the United States and therefore has no legal right to be or remain in the United States. Not all undocumented immigrants snuck across the border illegally. Although it is hard to get an accurate number on the amount that did, some undocumented immigrants originally came here legally as tourists or some came on a temporary visa and just did not leave. The reasons on why they decided to stay and not go back to their countries are numerous. Some immigrants come to the United States to work and escape the poor economy in their country, while others come to be with their family. Whatever the reason may be, at the end of the day they all come here to achieve the american dream.
Today one of the biggest issues in America is illegal immigration; these people travel from all over the world, and illegally cross national borders onto U.S soil in desperation to find a better life. Immigrants come to America in hopes of fulfilling the American dream, being free and safe from their original home lands. Most immigrants are illegal and come by the millions each year, which lead to many controversial disputes. The overflow of immigrants caused many citizens to question if these illegal immigrants are damaging America in various way and also by bringing in crime, drugs, and terrorists. Others state that immigrants truly aids the economy “Indeed, some sectors of the economy might have a hard time functioning without illegal workers. (Katel 395) Many citizens believe illegal immigrants are taking jobs, and abusing government benefits, however many argue that these immigrants in fact contribute to a stronger economic stimulus, take unwanted jobs, and some even create jobs for Americans.
Illegal immigration has caused a lot of controversy within the United States. The media has influenced our society to make us believe that illegal immigrants are horrible people. One thing that I have learned throughout life is, “Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains (Rousseau 4).” This sums up how society dictates our lives and limits us to what the media wants to us to believe. Whether it is legal or illegal, everybody should be treated equally. Illegal immigrants might always end up with the short end of the stick, but they heavily support the US economy. They contribute by paying taxes every year. In addition, they adopt difficult low wage jobs that are not of interest to the average American.
Recently the United States has experienced a large number of immigrants coming over to the country within the 2000s. In recent studies, there are about 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. The undocumented immigrant population has grown 27% between 2000 to 2009. Immigrants from Mexico make up 59% of the undocumented immigrants in the United States. These undocumented immigrants can help the economy and country grow. These undocumented immigrants do have some downside to them, which makes people question do they really help this country. Many people question if this is a good or bad thing for the U.S. economy or the country. Immigrants have helped the U.S. economy out a lot and propose more positives then negatives on
In 1849, an inundation of Chinese immigrants came to the United States to take part in the California gold rush. Relations between the Chinese and Americans started off neutral, but soon conflicts arose. White workers saw Chinese as a threat to their status and tried to solve this issue by passing the Chinese Exclusion Act; this severely limited the number of Chinese allowed to immigrate into the country at the time. Although this compromise satisfied the white protests, it only lead to more conflicts with how the Chinese were treated during immigration. These conflicts would not be resolved for another 61 years.
Illegal immigrants have always been a problem for the United States. Entering the country illegally can result in deportation back to their native country. The majority of those that enter the country illegally are here to find a better future. As more and more undocumented immigrants pour into this country, stricter laws are being passed which in terms becomes a controversial issue.
For ages, the United States has seemed to be the country where people seek to move to for a better life. The United States was built on immigrants. People have always migrated to the United States both legally and illegally. The main problem the country has face with immigrants is the amount that trespass the border illegally. Illegal immigration is the unlawful act of crossing a national border(Illegal Immigration Pros and Cons). The illegal immigrant population keeps growing at an annual average of about 300,000 people(Currie 10). In the recent year of 2014, there were about 11.3 million undocumented people living in the United States(Krogstad). Many have asked what harm they do to both the economy and the American citizen. Although there are many arguments as to how much harm they cause, there are as many arguments stating illegal immigration benefits the United States. Illegal immigration has a positive impact in the United States within the consumers, the working class, and the overall economy.
The United States of America, being a country founded by immigrants, is known all over the world as the land of great opportunities. People from all walks of life travelled across the globe, taking a chance to find a better life for them and their family. Over the years, the population of immigrants has grown immensely, resulting in the currently controversial issue of illegal immigration. Illegal immigrants are the people who have overstayed the time granted on their US, visa or those who have broken the federal law by crossing the border illegally. Matt O’Brien stated in his article “The government thinks that 10.8 million illegal immigrants lived in the country in January 2009, down from a peak of nearly 12 million in 2007.”(Para, 2)
Every year hundreds of thousands legal illegal immigrants flock to America. They hope to start a new life or escape civil wars in their countries. There are approximately 12.5 million illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. This number has grown significantly in the past years. This puts a major strain on the economy costing taxpayers three billion dollars each year. Immigrants are also taking the jobs from
The United States is a country affected by illegal immigration. The term illegal aliens or what is most commonly known as illegal immigrants, the word alien is simply a person who comes from a foreign country. A much more accurate expression for these groups of individuals is the term illegal alien. The term illegal alien is a much more precise term because it deals with both undocumented aliens as well as nonimmigrant visa overstayers. Both terms illegal alien as well as illegal immigrant are used to describe individuals who have broken the law of our country to enter and work illegally. The majority of the immigrants who come to this country illegally are in search of the
Throughout the history of the United States immigration has become apart of our country’s fabric which, began centuries ago. Only to become a hot topic in the US in recent years with its primary focus being illegal immigrants. Illegal immigration is when people enter a country without government permission. As of 2008 the Center for Immigration Studies estimated that there are 11 million illegal immigrants in the US which is down from 2007‘s 12.5 million people. Although the Center for Immigration Studies estimates are very different from other estimates that range from 7 to 20 million. While the Pew Hispanic Center estimated in March of 2009 there are 11.1 million illegal immigrants and that number is from March 2007’s peak of 12